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The Webley Alecto – Part 2

Well, Mac and I will arrive in Roanoke this evening. Tomorrow, we plan to go to the civic center and help set up for the show.

Today, we’re looking at the new Webley Alecto multi-pump pneumatic air pistol, and it promises to be one of the most powerful non-PCP air pistols to ever come along. As I mentioned in Part 1, this gun is for grown men who eat their Wheaties. The first pump is relatively easy, pump two is not too difficult but pump three is a real bear! I like this gun because of all the flexibility it gives the shooter, but I don’t want to hear how it’s too hard to pump. So, I’m giving you fair warning.

Edith holds the Webley Alecto. You can see the size, relative to her medium-sized hand. The grip does fit her though.

Since it’s possible to shoot the gun on one, two or three pumps, that’s how I conducted the test. I picked three pellets, a lightweight one, a medium-weight one and a heavyweight. I shot them repeatedly at one, two and three pumps to get the averages. You need to know that multi-pump pneumatics are among the most well-regulated of all airguns. And single-strokes are at the absolute top. Single strokes will often be more consistent than regulated PCPs, which is hard to imagine but true, nevertheless.

So lets take a look at the Alecto as it performs. First, we’ll look at a single pump.

Alecto on one pump
The first pellets I tried were RWS Hobbys. And I discovered that on one pump, the Alecto is extremely stable –just like a single-stroke pneumatic. The Hobbys averaged 422 f.p.s. and ranged from 421 to 423 f.p.s. That’s an average energy of 2.77 foot-pounds.

Air Arms domes were next with a weight of 8.4 grains. They represent the middle of the .177 caliber weight range. On a single pump, they averaged 390 f.p.s. with a spread from 389 to 391 f.p.s. Once again, a tight spread! That works out to an average energy of 2.84 foot-pounds.

Beeman Kodiaks were last. Though they aren’t the absolutely heaviest pellets around, they do represent the heavyweight range quite well. They averaged 353 f.p.s., with a total spread from 352 to 354 f.p.s. Like I said, the Alecto is like a single-stroke on one pump. The average muzzle energy is 2.82 foot-pounds.

I also discovered that as you shoot the Alecto, it wakes up and shoots harder. That was demonstrated on two pumps.

Alecto on two pumps
RWS Hobbys averaged 556 f.p.s., but the spread went from 546 to 562. The average energy was 4.81 foot-pounds. The second pump is fairly easy to make as long as the gun’s butt is anchored on your leg.

Air Arms domes averaged 523 f.p.s. The spread was much tighter, from 519 to 525 f.p.s., and the average muzzle energy was 5.1 foot-pounds. The sleeping tiger is awakening!

Beeman Kodiaks averaged 483 f.p.s. with a spread from, 482 to 484 f.p.s. That’s as tight as the same pellet on one pump. The average muzzle energy was 5.29 foot-pounds. We’re getting into Beeman P1 territory on two pumps.

Now, it’s time to test the gun on three pump strokes. I had to anchor the butt in my lap and push down on the topstrap with more than just my arm strength to close it.

Alecto on three pumps
RWS Hobbys averaged 630 f.p.s., with a spread from 618 to 634 f.p.s. The average energy was 6.17 foot-pounds. We have surpassed the P1 and are bearing down on the Browning 800 Magnum.

Air Arms domes averaged 596 f.p.s.. The spread went from 584 to 598 f.p.s. The average muzzle energy was 6.63 foot-pounds. The gun is really screaming now.

With Beeman Kodiaks, the average was 556 f.p.s. The spread went from 542 to 559 f.p.s. The average muzzle energy was 7 foot-pounds, even!

Trigger-pull
Through this all, the two-stage trigger was light but mushy. The first stage is deceptively heavy, but stage two has a definite stop before breaking. This one breaks at 2 lbs. exactly and nearly all of that is in stage one. So, don’t go horsing the trigger until you learn it.

Impressions
The more I shoot the Alecto, the better I like it. Here’s an air pistol that goes from 2.77 foot-pounds to 7 foot-pounds, which is a broad spectrum of power to offer. And, I get the feeling that it’s going to be very accurate, too. We’ll see!

B.B. really nailed it. The first stage is “mushy”. I couldn’t have thought of a better word. Nonetheless, since this trigger can be adjusted for cant, once adjusted, I can easily overlook the first stage.

When we adjusted the cant the second stage felt less than the 2 lbs of trigger pull. Never put a gauge on it but I really liked the clean break. Never even thought about putting a trigger gauge on this pistol since it was so nice once adjusted.

I’m not a red dot fan but can’t understand why they didn’t put a red dot on both of the front sights (10 meters and 25 meters).

The picture of the Alecto in this article reminds me of Harrison Ford holding that blaster in Blade Runner. Believe me when I tell you folks from my first hand experience that although this is a big pistol it fits a medium hand just fine and with the adjustable palm shelf and more importantly the adjustable trigger you will quickly forget about the size of the pistol protruding above and beyond your hand.

B.B.,

Great 101 on reloading. Although I appreciate the article the numerous macro’s that required perfect painting are among your best so far. I know that a few readers appreciated the quality. I’ve honestly paid attention to your articles on “Photographing Airguns” and listened carefully to your tips and tried to absorb Mrs. Gaylord’s links to photoshop tutorials but all they have led me to is a deeper appreciation of your skills. Yes, I know Mac is behind the curtain. Yes I know your favorite “trick” is painting the subject with light. BUT, until you try it, many times, you can’t appreciate the quality of what you have done WHILE SITTING AT YOUR DESK.

What’s infuriating is that you don’t have a high dollar camera or high dollar light box and can produce this quality of macro and normal photos consistently. Thanks. It’s motivating.

Excluding the groans and elbow popping sounds from the person pumping this thing, how much noise does it make while being pumped?
Asking because with the power it makes it clearly has hunting abilities.

SlingingLead,come to my garage sale when I am broke…..I sure have spent some coin when you add it up.But unlike deposit slips,my investments are literally a blast!I now feel like there must be something I can do to share my good fortune….like “airgun camp” or something similar.Who knows what the future may bring.I’m very excited to get the HW 55 T…..never expected one to sell now,let alone for a fair price

I anxiously clicked on your link, dieing to see what little gem you dug up, and was confronted by the following message:

“This video contains content from MyVideoRights (MVR), who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.”

How rude. With Benny Hill being the obvious exception, I thought you Brits were the most polite people on earth.

How could you mention ‘Verminators’ and ‘Man Vs. Food’ in the same sentence? I have seen both shows and they both make me sick for different reasons. Verminators is disgusting. The roach episodes make my skin crawl. I don’t know where they find these people that live with roach feces covering everything they own. I used to have a valet parking job, and I drove a CAR that was infested with roaches. I would not come to her house for tea.

I am trying to be all high and mighty. I am not the most obsessively clean person in the world, and I have found roaches in my own house. Fortunately for me, they have all been at least half consumed by my cat, Frida. She is the consummate house-cat, but she is a tabby and her predatory instincts are obviously hard-wired into her brain– she is very skilled in her craft.

You beat me to the keyboard with your complaint to DaveUK. Roaches here in the house no, but mole crickets in the basement in the fall, yes. Great sport with cleaning pellets. One of my best ever snap shots ever was one on the wall across the basement. The kids and I would hit the garden after dark and shoot slugs with our Pioneer rifles–another fun night.

I wonder if anyone makes a holster to carry the Webly Electo? (With its name, i wonder what type and how many batteries it takes?)

Mole crickets? Down here we call ‘em cave crickets. They are nearly as creepy as roaches. Maybe more depending on the individual. My house was built on a slab so I don’t have those, but I appreciate that you and yours are dispatching them with great efficiency. Man, I love airguns.

Sorry it wont play gentlemen.
It is a scene from the comedy series ‘Father Ted’ where father Jack(The eldest priest) has stage 6 hair growth on his hands. lol
‘Verminators’ is usually on TV first,then ‘Man V Food’.I have to prepare a snack while watching MvF.
The USA has by far the best eateries in the world
A little disappointed there is not more air gun use on ‘Verminators’ though.
Thus far I have only seen their Co2 rifle used once.
You are right about how some people live.Got one next door in fact
DaveUK

You beat me to the keyboard with your complaint to DaveUK. Roaches here in the house no, but mole crickets in the basement in the fall, yes. Great sport with cleaning pellets. One of my best ever snap shots ever was one on the wall across the basement. The kids and I would hit the garden after dark and shoot slugs with our Pioneer rifles–another fun night.

I wonder if anyone makes a holster to carry the Webly Electo? (With its name, i wonder what type and how many batteries it takes?)

BB:
The Alecto on three pumps is pushing out as much power as a lot of our mid range rifles.
It looks the business as well.
Watching a new series from the USA called ‘Verminators’ at the moment.(Oh and ‘Man versus food’ as well)
They could do with one of those for tight loft spaces.
DaveUK

Edith…I do hope you realize my comment was entirely tonque in cheek.
How would it compare in size to the Gamo Compact?
Also…off topic, but considering yesterdays blog on handloading PB’s and b.b.’s and Edith’s experience with pitols….
Last night I was reading an article in Tactical Weapons about the range of some current military weapons.
M4….’effective range’ 800yds
AK47………………….300yds
M9 Beretta……………21yds ??
Are 9mm pistols only considered ‘effective’ at this close range or was it a misprint?
If this is the effective range is it that it loses so much energy…or is it a matter of not easily being able to hit your target beyond this range.
And is a .45 that much better?
Just interested.

CSD,
Don’t forget, the ranges you quoted are effective COMBAT ranges.
Most rounds will fly much further. 21 yards or 19,19 meters is pretty good with the open sights on a Beretta 92/M9. I think B.B. has said this before but the greater the distance between front and rear sight the greater the accuracy with wich you can aim.

This table can’t be right. 300 yards is pretty well accepted for the AK-47, but no way does the M4 have an effective range of 800 yards. The .223 in a varmint gun will max out around 500 yards I believe. The M4 because of its shorter barrel alone, not to mention other things, will come in way under that. It definitely will not keep pace with an AK-47. A lot of these tactical magazines are cheerleaders for the AR-15 weapon system.

Matt. I was kinda suspect of the claim for the M4 myself. I know the 7.62 packs more punch than the 5.56, and though the AK may be built to lower standards I don’t believe the M4 is so much more accurate that it makes for an accuracy improvement that took it out to 800 yds.
Isn’t 800yds about the effective range of the M24 sniper system ?

Well said. I thought I left a comment this morning before I left for work saying almost identical, but it looks like i never sent it in. I am known to write and re write stuff to the point that I just get flustered and dump it, so that may be the case as well. You are correct in that the AR15 in what ever configuration, is almost always just less than an AK47 as far as max eff range, energy at impact, etc.

I was concerned that shot to shot consistency wasn’t going to be very good, glad to see that’s not an issue. I can’t wait to see how the Alecto is in the accuracy department. Hopefully, BB will do some testing at 10 and then 25-30 meters. I just don’t get that excited when pistols are tested at 20 feet, or can’t really shoot (reasonably) accurately past that.

Edith…
This morning I recieved a bunch of pellets from PA.
I have a couple questions about them…
H&N finale match rifle PA# PYP 848 is shown on the .177 page as 4.50 mm but on the tin it is listed as 4.51.
From a previous order I got a tin of match rifle (not finale) that are labeled on the tin as 4.51 also, but the finale fit a bit tighter. Not a big deal because they load without the need for excessive force.

I can’t tell from the shipping invoices if either kind is really what I ordered, since the numbers on the tins are different from the invoices.
At the moment, the best solution I can think of is to staple the invoices to the wall for reference the next time I order. I wrote the PYP numbers on both invoices.
At least the Polymags were easy to figure out….only one size.

Curious stuff. PY-P-848 is 4.50mm and has a 4.50mm head. PY-P-843 (H&N Match) is 4.50mm but has a 4.51mm head. The PY numbers and item codes (the longer set of numbers you see on the invoice) are so similar that they could easily be mixed up.

I’ve forwarded your comment to tech support, the warehouse manager, the editorial team (of which I am part) and one of the owners to investigate this issue. I’ve also asked that they include our PY numbers on invoices in the future, which is why I included an owner. Don’t know if the latter is possible, but I’m giving it a shot.

Our warehouse manager said the tin she has for PY-P-848 says 4.50mm on the front of tin but there’s a sticker on the back of the tin that says 4.51mm. Is that what you’re talking about? Or are you saying that your tin has 4.51mm imprinted on the front (it makes a difference to us)?

OK Edith.
I can use either 4.50 or 4.51, but smaller or larger will not be right with my HW.
The tins of H&N FTT I ordered (4.50) matched the previous order, but similar problems could happen with the possibility of a mixup when these pellets come in so many sizes.

Both of these pellets in these sizes are good for my HW, but it is too tight for CPL, CPH, Kodiak, and nearly too tight for Exact heavies. Exact 8.4 are just barely tight enough. At least, the ones I have on hand anyway.

B.B., so the dimpling of bolts and receivers has some truth to it. I’m just repeating what the literature tells me. He he. But where the literature takes it also gives back again. As I reread the passage last night, I see that blown primer pockets and dimpled bolt faces are the results of overloading your cartridges. Well, I plan to stay well clear of that and stick with the published guidelines. Regarding residual deposits of powder, I see that there are a set of aluminum funnels sold that contain absolutely no static electricity which is the agent that causes powder to cling during transfer. Surely, one of the appeals of reloading is that it gives new scope to the shopping impulses of shooters. You can’t buy guns for ever after all, certainly not as easily as you can reloading equipment.

BG_Farmer, last night I read about some tool from Hornady that anneals work-hardened cases to extend their lives so that’s taken care of too.

Is the accuracy gonna be tested on one, two and tree pumps too? I sure hope so.
If the accuracy is as consistent as the velocities are predicting this is gonna be (another)one to put on the wishlist…
Could always using it with only one pump damage something?

Thank you for the fast answer.
Can’t wait for the rest of the report.
It really seems like a nice pistol.
I’m eager to see if it can outshoot a Gamo Compact on one pump.
It may be time to upgrade from the Avanti 747 ?

This gun offers a lot, I believe. The grip looks like a good size that most men could use. Pistol manufacturers can’t make a “one size fits all”, so they tend to make grips on the large size. This means that we have to take a dremel to it, plus other changes. I’m glad that the Alecto chose to go with a medium size grip. You can always add putty to adjust up, which I found myself doing after taking off on my Compact.

Variable power makes this a very versatile pistol. I can see myself using for for target shooting, plinking, and even some pest control (if I had any).

I also get the sense that this is a good quality product. I sure hope so.

Like everyone else, I’m eager to see the results of the accuracy tests.

Non existant on one pump. I’ve shot the alecto on 2 pumps more than one, three or four. Four pumps is not recommended and harm has been done to this gun when firing on four or more pumps.

On two pumps you can feel a slight differance in how the gun reacts but there’s no poi vs. poa change with how the gun is held. The gun I’ve shot is stock. There are a few reports out there on the benefits of a compesator added to the end of the pistol to compensate for muzzle flip. Even at 4 pumps (not recommended) this gun is calm in my limited experience.

For whomever asked about this pistols potential for hunting:

Erik shot and killed a large marmot/whistle pig with this pistol about 3 weeks ago. He said he was about 20 yards away. The cocking effort is quiet as long as you are careful about the last stroke returning the top quietly. Not hard to do. The report from the shot, even at 3 strokes, is remarkably quiet considering the energy it generates.

As I’ve said previously I’m not a pistol guy, I don’t own this gun, but nonetheless I’m very impressed with it.

Thanks for answering my questions! Boy! It seems that the more I learn about this pistol the better it sounds. I think we have a winner here. I don’t expect to be disappointed with the accuracy test results. If the manufacturer is providing test groups, then they have a lot of confidence in their product. You get the impression that Webley is hungry. That’s good for everyone.

I get the feeling Webley really put a lot into this gun to say, “We’re not gone yet, watch this.” Beyond it’s fine specs and abilities, anyone else just think its a beautiful pistol? I tend to look at ability over looks, but the Alecto sure looks nice.

Is the Alecto the same as the Zoraki HP-01? If so, the Zoraki sure gets a lot of good comments from users. On the outside, they look identical, but has Webley made any internal improvements?

Hi guys, I have a question about this air pistol. My girlfriend wants to start shooting 10m air pistol and we are on a budget of around 480$ and we wondered if this would be a good candidate to use for practice and/or competition (using just one pump)?

Look at good USED lightweight target pistols. I shoot a SAM-10 that would be ideal for her because it is light. So would a Hammerli 480, and you should be able to get one of them for that kind of money if you shop.

Thanks BB. Do you know any inexpensive beginner 10m pistols? I just cant buy used since here in Puerto Rico anything firearm/air gun related is difficult to come by. I can only buy from Pyramyd and my budget of 480$ does not reach too much since I have to pay atleast 30$ (sorry for the sob story).

BTW BB, thanks to your review of the AF Edge I jumped in and enjoy it to death.

The IZH 46M is the least expensive new 10-meter target pistol around. I would have recommended it before, but since this is for your wife, I think the 46M is too heavy. It’s too heavy for me and I shoot 10-meter pistols!

If you are bound to get a new inexpensive 10-meter pistol, I would recommend trying the Daisy 747, instead. It’s just as accurate as the IZH 46M, and also just as heavy. The trigger leaves a lot to be desired, but it costs a lot less.

Thanks allot for the replys BB, thet mean allot. As for weight, well my girfriend can handle it so i will bite the pellet and get her the IZH for with my university left-overs. I wanted to have some coin left for a benjamin pcp pump for the AF Edge but I can manage. BTW BB, do you think 17 is a little older for her to start 10m pistol?

17 is extremely YOUNG to begin 10 meter pistol shooting. The world champions are all in their late 20 through late 30s. 10-meter pistol is a very disciplined sport that takes calm nerves and a steady hand. I competed in my 40s and 50s.

Hahaha. I was actually a little scaree that youd say that it was a little old! Ive been shooting 10m Rifle in local maches around Puerto Rico since I was 13 but do to studies had to stop at around 17 but Im 19 and wana get a go at it again and my girlfriend wants to shoot too. We dont know if my coach trains people in 10m pistol but if he does not, I will give her my AF Edge, pickup one if the old FWB 300s they use for training and get at it.

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